CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41: WE’RE AFRAID OF JIANG LIN

Old Yu let out a long sigh, "We can still scrape together a betrothal gift, we’ll talk about the engagement gift later. I don’t believe that once the marriage is settled, the Qi Family would dare to call it off. Which family would want a girl who’s had a broken engagement?"

Mrs. Cao was taken aback for a moment, realizing that her father-in-law was planning to cook up a done deal, ready to play dirty.

The engagement gifts demanded by the Qi Family were quite detailed: a roll of fine cotton cloth, a roll of pink embroidered silk, two pounds of white sugar, a big chunk of prime meat, six scaled fish, and a jar of fine wine, all of which the Qi Family requested.

The other items were negotiable, but good silk wasn’t cheap.

Mrs. Cao said, "Mother, these two rolls of good cloth will cost quite a few taels of silver..."

Old Mrs. Yu replied irritably, "Can’t you pick the cheapest one to buy? If she wants the best, then buy the best. Do you think the aristocrats in the Imperial City wear cloth worth hundreds of taels? Does she have the fortune to wear that?"

"Mother, I’m afraid I won’t buy it well, and later anger the girl from the Qi Family. If she and Lao San call off the engagement, I can’t bear such responsibility. It’s better if you personally prepare these items!"

Mrs. Cao said this and turned back to her room without waiting for Old Mrs. Yu’s reply.

Old Mrs. Yu was about to curse when Old Yu said angrily, "We can’t skimp on the cloth. San-er hardly found a girl he likes. If the Qi Family isn’t pleased with the fabric and gets upset, calling off the engagement, what do we do?"

"Then what do you suggest?"

Old Mrs. Yu felt like a skilled wife in want of rice.

Old Yu mumbled, "Don’t you... don’t you have a silver bracelet? How about... selling it?"

Old Mrs. Yu immediately got annoyed, "No way. After so many years, this is the only piece of jewelry I have. I’m not selling it. If we’re short on money, go out and borrow some."

Old Yu glared at Old Mrs. Yu, "Don’t you want to find a wife for our son?"

"Of course I do! Why wouldn’t I? But can’t you think of another way? Why must we sell my bracelet? Now all our money is gone, and I only have this bracelet. I’m not selling it.

If worse comes to worst, can’t you borrow a bit from the neighbors? It’s almost harvest time, isn’t it? After harvesting the grain, we can repay them, no problem."

"It’s easier said than done. If we borrow money for such a trivial thing as a betrothal, won’t everyone outside know we are out of money? Also, this year there was little rain, and the crops suffered drought. The grains are all shriveled. We might not harvest much, and after paying half in taxes, nothing will be left."

Old Mrs. Yu realized Old Yu had a point. She frowned and said, "You’ve already decided to sell my bracelet, haven’t you? Can’t you think of another solution?"

Old Yu gazed thoughtfully and then spoke gloomily, "We can’t sell the house, we can’t sell the land, but we can always sell people, right?"

"Sell people? Are you saying... sell that little jinx?"

"Who else but her?"

"But... Changhe and Ms. Sun wouldn’t agree either!"

"Tomorrow that girl has to go to the mountains to gather firewood. At that time..." Old Yu pressed closer to Old Mrs. Yu’s ear, whispering a few words. The more Old Mrs. Yu listened, the more feasible she felt the plan was.

Yu Changhe had just thrown the willow branches down when he saw Mrs. Ma coming aggressively with her five sons.

All five sons of Mrs. Ma were typically tall and sturdy, befitting northerners.

Standing imposingly at the Yu Family’s entrance, they made Yu Changhe’s heart tremble.

"Sister-in-law, what’s happened?"

"What’s happened? Ask your wife and your precious daughter. My mother was beaten by your girl. If you don’t compensate us for the medical bills and the egg money today, we brothers will tear your house down and use it as firewood." Mrs. Ma’s eldest son, Luo Da, shouted fiercely.

While Yu Changhe didn’t understand the situation completely, he guessed there must be a misunderstanding. Besides, Mrs. Ma’s character was notoriously bad in the village, often bullying orphaned families under the cover of her five sons.

Sun and Yu Xiaolian inside heard Mrs. Ma coming and hurriedly stepped out.

Sun really got it right. Mrs. Ma truly came knocking.

Mrs. Ma pointed at Sun with her chubby finger, "Sun, today you give me ten taels of silver and that’ll be the end of it, or my five sons won’t be easy to bully."

Facing Mrs. Ma’s five sons, Sun felt uneasy. If it came down to a fight, their family of three wouldn’t stand a chance.

Fighting those five strong men would only land them blows.

Yu Xiaolian stepped forward, "Mrs. Ma, you broke the eggs yourself and now want to extort my mother. You’re so wicked; your family is bound to face retribution sooner or later."

Sun, fearing Yu Xiaolian would get hit, quickly pulled her back and whispered, "Don’t argue with her; go find Jiang Lin fast."

Yu Xiaolian nodded and was about to climb over the mud wall when she heard Mrs. Ma shout, "Stop her, that damned girl is off to find Jiang Lin."

Though Mrs. Ma shouted in time, Yu Xiaolian moved even faster.

Compared to clumsy Luo Da, who moved like a pig, Yu Xiaolian was nimble like a monkey.

Before Luo Da could climb over the wall, Yu Xiaolian had already darted far away, making Luo Da give up chasing. He walked back to Mrs. Ma and said, "Mom, what if she brings Jiang Lin here?"

Mrs. Ma was furious, bringing five people to block the door, yet they didn’t even manage to watch a little girl; it maddened her.

"So what? What’s Jiang Lin going to do if he comes? Afraid of him, huh?"

Luo Da nodded, "I can’t beat him."

Mrs. Ma was almost angered to death by her eldest son. With her chubby hand, she smacked him on the back several times, "What’s the point of you? What’s the point?

You grew so big and strong, yet you’re scared of a child.

Moreover, there’s six of us, adding me to us five. Why are you scared of that little punk?"

Luo Er spoke up too, "Mom, I think eldest brother’s right. Even combined, we can’t beat Jiang Lin. Jiang Lin hits hard; let’s go home?"

Many young lads in the village were rebellious too, but Jiang Lin had beaten them into submission. Luo Er didn’t want to stay here and get thrashed.

"Exactly, a wise man knows when to retreat. We’ll wait until Jiang Lin is not in the village, then deal with them."

Mrs. Ma was incensed, calling her five sons worthless.

They set up the stage for a show, yet had to leave in disgrace before even starting. Mrs. Ma felt she’d lost her face completely.

But with her five sons afraid of Jiang Lin, ready to retreat, what could she do?

She could only return home with her sons before Jiang Lin arrived.

She grumbled to her sons as they walked, "Jiang Lin might not even be home now. Look at how scared you all got. Besides, why would Jiang Lin listen to Yu Xiaolian? Just because she calls him, he comes? Look at your cowardly faces."

Mrs. Ma was actually right; at that moment, Jiang Lin indeed wasn’t home, possibly checking the traps on the mountains.

Yu Xiaolian, fearing Yu Changhe and Sun might suffer bullying, hurriedly ran back.

If necessary, she’d use her stun baton; she couldn’t let Mrs. Ma grind her parents down.

Luckily, the stun baton was specially made by the police department colleague, capable of killing a person when set to maximum current.

Yu Xiaolian ran hastily back home and heard from Sun that the sons of the Luo Family feared Jiang Lin’s arrival and had already left, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Old Yu looked at the few people in the yard with his tobacco pipe, then walked out without saying a word. Even when Yu Changhe asked where he was going, Old Yu did not respond.